Category: Blog

Mechanics generally are very hard working people who do their job in the best possible manner and then just go to their homes. But like in every industry and job present, there are a few bad examples present that put the bad to the good name.

These are those types of mechanics who charge an arm’s length for the work that they do. The job might be really small but they might be charging you an amount so much that your car repair bills turn out to be a lot.

Telling you that you need a repair when you don’t

One of the most common things that mechanics do when they want to get more money out of you is to tell you that you need a repair when you really don’t need it. They might say such lines like, “I would never take my kids in such a thing!” or “I would never drive a car which has a condition like this!” These are generally things that mechanics say when they want to get some extra cash from you. If you hear such a thing, immediately take your car somewhere for a second opinion to know.

Recommending additives when you don’t need them

Car additives have a requirement and place where they are supposed to be used. Using them when your car doesn’t need them is just a burden on your pocket which your mechanic wants to levy. If there is a genuine issue that your faulconbridge mechanic is trying to fix then using a fuel additive with detergents can help you but if an additive is being used just to make your car ‘run better’ then you really need to ask your mechanic why that is taking place.

Charging you full price for re manufactured parts

If your mechanic uses re manufactured parts, there is nothing wrong with it. It is actually a great way to save money and have your car in a good condition which lasts a long time as well. But the problem that takes place is that when your mechanic says that he is using an original part but he is using a re manufactured part. This is where the extra money that he is charging goes into his own pocket.

Not grouping labor charges

There are multiple tasks present when you need to get your car repaired. But the tasks can be managed once the mechanic starts working on them in one go. If the mechanic intends to charge you more then he might bill you separately for each of the tasks. This can cause your bill to go up much higher and in turn for you to pay more.

There are many tell-tale signs present when your mechanic is charging you more so keep your eyes and ears open!

Running a small business isn’t easy. Unless you’re one of the fortunate business people who can stand to go out on a limb, you’ll need to precisely survey any critical choices your group makes. Almost every business has to integrate software in their business operations. In the current digital world, software plays a critical role in improving business efficiency.

Software choices vary depending on the nature of the business. However, in most cases common software can be used across different businesses. Some of the popular software programs for small business are:

1. Google Drive

Google drive offers more than just a backup for your business files and documents. It offers a document processing platform making it possible to open, create and edit files similar to Microsoft Word and excel. Google drive offers the services for free compare to other platforms which charge for their software. Better yet cloud hosting enables a business to access and edit the files remotely from any internet connected device.

2. Join.me – Video Conferencing

This platform offers video conferencing services. Although it is not the top player in the space, it is highly recommended due to its affordable aspect. The platform supports video conferencing for up to 10 users free of charge. Additional features include screen sharing capabilities and the option to integrate up to five different video feeds.

3. Wave – Accounting Software

Accounts processing is a key segment for any business, Wave offers a simple and very affordable solution. With the basic free version, the platform enables a small business perform the basic accounting processes including invoice processing, payroll, utilities processing and balance sheet services. For advanced services such as automated payments you may be required to upgrade to a premium option.

4. Hootsuite – Social Media Management

This software provides a one-stop social media management tool. It enables businesses manage their social media activities including posts scheduling and followers interactions. The free version offers the basic services which may be sufficient for any small business. The user has the option for upgrading to access premium features such as user demographics, post reach data analysis and the ability to schedule posts for posting in multiple platforms.

5. MailChimp – Email Marketing

This platform provides an easy way of collecting, analyzing and sorting emails from a business subscription website. The platform also enables content marketing in the basic version while the premium version offers advanced user targeting with the option of user personalization in each email. Their data analysis tools are quite detailed making it possible for any small business to effectively deploy a marketing campaign at a very affordable rate.

6. Zoho Desk – Customer Service

This platform is integrated in a business website enabling a small business to receive customer feedback or questions. The platform aggregates different customer data and relays that to the relevant department making it possible for different organs within the company to receive independent feedback and respond to the customers effectively.

There are numerous software platforms available free or at a reasonable price designed specifically to improve efficiency for small businesses. If you don’t have the time to look into some of these options yourself, consider working with an external IT consultant such as http://www.itma.com.au/services/consulting who will be able to manage this aspect of business for you.

Open plan offices may have been all the rage in the past, but with the ever-changing demands and landscape, nothing stays the same for long. In the recent years, more and more organizations are discovering the many benefits of separating their offices into manageable units and the best way achieve this is through modular wall systems.

If you are thinking about installing modular walls (such as these: https://www.skilledfencing.com.au/modular-walls-perth/) in your workplace and are not certain whether the benefits this system boasts will be worthwhile, then you may want to read the rest of this piece.

Reasons to Consider Modular Walls:

Assembly Time and Mess

Conventional construction tends to be messy and time-consuming. The building team can occupy an area for weeks at a time, which causes distractions and slows down productivity in the workplace. In some cases, work has to be halted, which can affect your business operations. Also, drywall dust tends to settle on nearby products and equipment.

Modular walls, on the other hand, are pre-fabricated and take a short time to install with no mess. A modular wall system takes just a few days to install, allowing your employees to resume normal operations quicker.

Portability

In the event you need to relocate, you can move with your demountable wall systems, which makes modular wall system solutions worthwhile for all types of businesses. For small firms and those in cyclic industries that usually downsize their operations, the ability to set up an office in a new building with the same walls can be very valuable. Businesses in rented units usually refrain from modifying them even if the leases allow them. However, with modular walls, it’s possible to customize the space without having to worry about leaving it behind should there be a need to relocate in the future.

Subcontractors

If you decide to build drywall, you will have to hire several contractors from carpenters to painters and even electricians. When you work with many contractors, the chances of conflicts and project delays are usually high.

Movable wall systems, on the other hand, are purchased pre-wired and pre-finished, with straightforward instructions and detailed illustrations. Installation is therefore quick and fast. You can do it yourself or hire a local installer.

The Environment

In this day and age, there is so much emphasis being placed on sustainable corporate practice. Anything that reduces the carbon footprint of a company becomes a popular choice in the field of interior design. Modular walls score particularly high in this category as they prevent companies from tearing up old components and install new drywall every time they want to configure the layout of their workplaces. By minimizing the number of materials they utilize, corporations can reduce their carbon footprint significantly.

Savings on Taxes

Movable wall systems are usually considered as furnishing expenditures and not permanent additions to the workplace. That means they will not increase your property taxes. However, you should consult your tax professional or accountant for more information regarding this.

As you can see, there are numerous benefits to using modular walls for your commercial or office projects. I hope this article has enlightened you and that you will make a wise decision on your next renovation project.

Choosing the right commercial landscaper is essential for making a strong first impression on your visitors. This is why you can’t hire the first contractor you come across, and hope they are going to do a dream job. There are several things you have to look for in a commercial landscaper, as you are going to see in a moment.

The style and the work portfolio are very important. You should seek for a landscaping company with a rich experience in the specific type of job you want to hire them for. If you want a Japanese garden to welcome your potential customers in a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere, you should choose someone who has created lots of such landscapes.

The use of sustainable landscaping methods is another important thing to look for when choosing this type of contractor. For instance, low-emissions mowers and smart landscape irrigation systems can help you contribute to the protection of the environment, without giving up on caring for your plants.

A reliable landscaping company should use insured and drug-free workers. They should also have all certifications and licenses required by law. This is how you can always be on the safe side, should anything occur during your project. Besides, it’s good to choose only business partners who care about their employees, and who strive to offer the highest quality services possible. Service providers with good liability insurance will cover any injuries or property damage that may arise during their work. The zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy is yet another sign that the contractor is committed to providing seamless services and a high quality work.

Dedicated customer relationship management is yet another feature to seek for, as it may have a big influence on the success of your project. Having a customer care specialist to get in touch with whenever there’s an issue can save you a lot of time and nerves. You can offer more effective feedback when you don’t have to talk to different employees about different parts of the project.

The portfolio of clients is an accurate reflection of the service quality. You should never hire a commercial landscaper without taking a closer look at their completed projects and at the profile of their most important clients. In addition, the size and the financial power of the contractor may have a direct influence on the quality of their equipment and of the materials they use. By choosing a more powerful company to take care of your landscaping needs, you’re going to benefit from better workforce, advanced technology and solutions, sustainability and reliability.

These are the main things to look for when choosing a commercial landscaping company. The price is less important when it comes to such an important area of activity. After all, you have the chance to make a first impression only once, so you have to do everything in your power to persuade your potential clients that you are their best bet. The exterior of your building and its surroundings are important, so choose your landscaper wisely.

Buying equipment is without a shadow of doubt expensive, especially if it is not going to be utilised on a regular basis. Instead of purchasing equipment and having to pay for licenses, insurance, warranties and even maintenance, hire companies give you access to the top of the line equipment at a reasonable price, along with qualified and experienced operators and professionals.

However, not all equipment hire companies provide the same level of service. It is imperative to choose the best equipment rental company in your region to ascertain the best equipment and service quality. As a guideline, here are the most important things to consider when choosing an equipment rental company, regardless of your location.

The Quality of The Equipment

This is perhaps the most important aspect to look at when renting equipment. Make sure that the hire centre provides top of the line equipment for rent. Although equipment hire is cheaper and more cost-effective than buying equipment, it is still expensive Renting low-quality equipment makes it susceptible to breakage which makes it more expensive for the long haul. Also, inferior equipment usually translates to poor results, which is the last thing you want on your project. Ensure you ask about equipment age and how regular the maintenance is done.

Stock Variety

Another important thing to consider is the variety of equipment the company offers. If you are working on a big project, you will need an array of machinery pieces, and in turn, an equipment rental company with a huge variety of stock. You should check the equipment list that the company has on their website or inquire directly through the phone. Also, check whether they have the latest types of equipment and are not renting outdated models.

Safety

More often than not, there is a need to hire operators. As such, ensure you consider the safety measures the firm has taken for the safety of both the equipment and the operators. Ask if the operators are trained well-trained to handle the equipment and how often the machinery is maintained. If you prefer to run the machinery yourself, ask the hire centre to demonstrate how to operate the equipment you wish to rent properly.

Customer Service

As with all firms, client service is imperative for efficient and smooth transactions. Even if the company has top of the shelf machinery at affordable prices, but have horrible customer service, you are going to have a hard time. Search for an equipment rental company that is open to communication and provide prompt service. It would be wise to check the reviews and testimonials of the company online. You can also visit their social media pages to see what others have to say about them.

The Cost

As with any product or service, you need to consider the price. Affordability is good, but you also need to ensure that you are getting your money’s worth. It is okay to pay a slightly higher price if the variety and quality of the machinery are better than average. It is also acceptable to spend a little bit more if the company provides a delivery service and other perks.

It is advisable to consider all these aspects when choosing an equipment hire company. Rather than looking at quality and affordability alone, it is essential to consider the other factors mentioned in the read as well.

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the fact that SEO is a must for all businesses that want to become successful. While this is true to a certain extent, it’s worth mentioning here that there are also some exceptions to this rule. SEO works great for some businesses, but not for all of them. In order to understand why, let’s see how search engines work.

Whenever you search for something, you get lots of results, ranked according their relevance to your search query. In some cases, you also get eight sponsored results, four of them in the beginning of the page, and the other four at the end, below the organic results. Although this is the general structure of a results page, in some verticals, Google, as well as the other two major search engines for that matter, displays a row of images, and their own products and services such as flights, hotels and restaurant reviews. All these push the organic results below the fold, rendering SEO ineffective. You can invest a lot of money and effort into ranking for the most lucrative terms in your niche, and yet fail to see the expected results, simply because only 50% of all people searching for that keyword scroll down to see your snippet, and an even smaller percentage actually clicks through to visit your landing page.

In such industries, search engine marketing or social media advertising can be way more effective and more profitable than SEO, so this is the approach you should follow instead of targeting all these highly competitive keywords that don’t bring you the expected ROI.

The other reason why SEO is great for some businesses, but not for others is the target market. If your products or services are aimed at elderly people who don’t have the habit or the means of accessing the internet to search for what they need, ranking among the first in the SERPs may not bring you too many new clients. Before deciding to work with an SEO agency, you have to study and understand your target consumers and their behaviour in relationship to the online environment.

The sooner you do this analysis of your target market, the better. As SEO is a long-term process, you should assess its effectiveness from the very beginning, rather than investing in it for months only to realise it doesn’t work as well as you have estimated. This assessment has to start with taking a closer look at the SERPs for your industry, as well as with in-depth research of your core consumer’s behaviour and shopping habits.

Last but not least, even if you decide SEO isn’t the best choice in your specific niche, you should still keep an eye on the SERPs and on your consumers, because the internet is a rapidly evolving and dynamic industry. What doesn’t work so well today might bring you a fortune tomorrow, so be there to grab this opportunity, should you come across it some day.

No matter how good your product is, if you fail to provide satisfactory customer service then people won’t buy from you again. You should always focus on improving your customer service. Here are some tips that can be useful.

Train your employees

You should train your employees so that they can talk politely with the customers and offer them help. The employees should have thorough knowledge on the products so that they can suggest different products to customers. The employees must be trained to understand the customers’ needs and offer them suitable products. They should be able to reply to any queries customers might have regarding the product.

Resolve customer problems fast

You should try to resolve customer problems at the first time. The customer should not be given the chance to call you repeatedly to fix their problem. You should be able to solve the issue immediately. You should train your employees well and assign someone experienced to be the first point of contact. That person should take the responsibility for the entire matter. You can offer live chat services so that customers can get solutions to their problems very quickly. Whenever you receive any customer feedback, you should consider it seriously and act upon it.

Try to bond emotionally with the customers

You should form an emotional connection with the customers. If something goes wrong, you should apologize and try to make up for it immediately. Customers become loyal to brands when they find themselves emotionally attached to the brand.

These tips are very effective and will help you provide amazing customer service to your customers. Providing excellent customer service is the easiest way to retain customers for a long time.

If you want to boost the sale of your products then you should have promotions once in a while. Here are some of the most effective types of sales promotion.

Discounts

You can offer product discounts. It is a very popular form of promotion. Almost everyone loves a bargain. So, you can offer discounts as percentages of the original price. The discount should be attractive and you shouldn’t offer discounts too often; it will not attract customers. You can have flash sales, which are sale offers for a limited period of time.

Free shipping

There are many online stores available now. People find it convenient to buy from online stores. Usually these store charge extra for shipping. You can offer free shipping as a means of promotion. People like free shipping services and they will buy from your store more.

Loyalty points

You can have reward cards and give loyalty points to your loyal customers. The reward card system works well. People like to get things for free. They would love to get more reward points so that they can redeem these points to buy things for free.

Offer savings on bulk buy

You can offer discounts when people buy more of a product. For example, you can offer 20% discount if customers buy more than 10 packs of juices. You can also give one free product for every four products they purchase.

Contests

You can run a contest and give attractive prizes to the winners. The more lucrative the prize is, more people will participate in the contest. Contests create a vibe and it spreads the word. It’s a very effective strategy to improve branding.

You should run these promotions and see the result yourself. Choose a particular time of the year, especially times when the sale is low. Promotions can significantly boost your sale.

Businesses go through ups and downs. During the time of economic crisis, it is wise to cut down your business expenses. It can be confusing where to start. Here are some options.

Outsource tasks

You should take advantage of the latest trend of outsourcing tasks. If you are having a tough tie financially, then you should outsource some of your tasks. You can hire companies that do outsourcing tasks abroad or you can use platforms like Freelance, oDesk, etc. for hiring people to do your job. You will be able to complete the tasks in cheaper rate than if you had hired a permanent employee to do the same works. So, you can save a lot of money by outsourcing.

Cut down your financial expenditures

You should look at your insurance policy and see how you can save money by getting a more competitive rate. You can consolidate your insurance policies into one account. You shouldn’t take any unnecessary debt. You should try to consolidate your credit cards as well to lower your interest rates. You should see if you can negotiate lower interest rate with your banks.

Try to negotiate price with suppliers

You can negotiate with your suppliers and try to get the products at a lower price. Many suppliers are very helpful and friendly. They can help you.

Reduce production costs

You should evaluate your operational activities to make sure that you are fully utilizing your resources. You should try to reuse the leftovers of the production process in other ways.

These are the best ways to cut costs of your business in a critical financial situation. You should make sure that your employees don’t get demotivated when you try to cut costs. You should have a solid plan and take steps accordingly.

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About us

I am a marketing expert by profession and working for a big company in Texas. I’ve more than 25 years of experience in this sector. After doing my MBA I joined a small firm where I worked for five years.